NB: There was an edit to last chapter
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CHAPTER 4
~Rhiannon's POV~
The first thing I felt was the throbbing in my head, a dull, persistent ache that seemed to match my heartbeat.
The second was the ache in my wrists, the heavy pull of cold iron biting into my skin, a constant reminder of my captivity.
I stirred slowly, blinking into the dim light filtering through the ceiling. My mouth tasted like dust and blood, a grim souvenir of my struggle.
My body hurt in ways I couldn't name—deep aches from being manhandled, shallow cuts from the chains, bruises blooming on top of bruises.
For a wild moment, a fleeting sense of disorientation where I couldn't place myself. Then it all slammed back—the auction.
The five wolves.
The chains.
And now, this room.
Not the same stone cell as before. This one was... different, warmer, and cleaner. It was an actual room, with rough-hewn furniture and tapestries on the walls. A subtle upgrade to my prison.
To some extent I almost wondered if the werewolves lived in a stone age, but I guess I got an answer to my question. Their world seemed to blend brutality with a strange sort of comfort for themselves.
A thick blanket had been tossed over the thin mattress I lay on. The chains were still there, secured to a heavy iron ring bolted deep into the stone wall, but they were looser, not cutting off my circulation. A small mercy, perhaps calculated.
They hadn't let me go. Of course not.
They were giving me just enough comfort to soften the edges of the cage, a subtle form of control. The realization sent a fresh wave of anger through me.
My heart twisted painfully as another memory surfaced—my father.
Pale, coughing up blood, lying in his bed back home. His weak smile and his fading eyes.
I had crossed the border for him. I had risked everything for the moonlotus root tucked inside my satchel—and now it was gone, stolen along with my freedom, and I was here.
Trapped. Helpless.
I shoved the thoughts down hard, breathing through the rising panic that threatened to suffocate me. I couldn't afford to break, not yet.
The door creaked open and I tensed immediately, every muscle in my body going rigid on the mattress, coiled and ready for a fight I couldn't win.
Slow bootsteps could be heard.
I knew who it was. He was the one in the center—whose voice had pinned me in the auction room when he sealed my fate, offering one million for me—entered without hesitation, as if he owned the very air he breathed.
Raven-black hair, glacial blue eyes that seemed to see right through me, and dark clothes clinging to a body built for command. An aura of power radiated from him.
He moved like he expected the room to obey him just for breathing in it. Arrogance dripped from every silent step.
I knew his type. Kael stopped a few feet away, arms loose at his sides, but his presence filled every inch of space between us.
For a long moment, he just watched me as his intense gaze assessed me. I felt like a specimen under a microscope.
I glared back, refusing to look away, refusing to show weakness. My defiance was a small, burning ember in the face of his power.
"Your name," he said finally in a low voice that sent shiver down my spine despite my anger. "Tell me."
I said nothing. My silence was my only weapon.
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, a flicker of annoyance in his eyes, but he didn't push. If he had tried to force it, I might have bared my teeth like a cornered animal lashing out.
I shifted slightly on the bed, testing the chains again. Loose, but not enough to run. A desperate plan began to form in the back of my mind.
He watched every movement with unsettling focus, like he was memorizing how I breathed, how I blinked, cataloging my every reaction.
I studied him back, dragging my gaze over him slowly, deliberately for him to see.
He was tall, solid and dangerous in a way he didn't need to advertise. His power was inherent.
There was a stillness to him that made my skin crawl—the way predators sometimes went utterly still before they pounced.
Behind him, I caught glimpses of the others through the open door—watching from a distance. Golden blond hair, fiery red, burgundy brown, pale crystal blues flashing.
Five of them.
Five alphas judging from their aura. My owners. The thought was a bitter pill to swallow.
And somehow the bond was still there—a strange, unwelcome connection, half-formed and wild.
I clenched my hands into fists, feeling the raw heat that made my stomach churn.
"You're not going to tell me your name,"
"You didn't ask nicely," I retorted with a defiance that surprised even myself.
Something flickered in his glacial eyes—amusement, maybe. Or annoyance. It was gone before I could be sure.
Another long silence stretched between us before I finally broke it.
I pushed myself up with effort until I sat upright, the chains rattling softly, I leveled a look at him, trying to ignore the tremor in my limbs. "Why did you buy me?"
For a heartbeat, he didn't answer.
Then Kael moved slowly, taking one step closer. I tensed instinctively, but held my ground.
"Why do you think?" I didn't answer him, thinking it was rhetorical. Thankfully, he answered himself. "Because we needed you," he said simply.
"Needed?" I spat the word like poison. "You needed a slave?" His mouth tightened. "Or what? Because from where I'm sitting, it looks like you threw money at a market to own someone who doesn't want to be owned."
"That… wouldn't be our fault. You got caught and put yourself in this situation. We… we simply took what we wanted."
I narrowed my eyes at him and wished I could really ehar what he was thinking but I had no idea how to make that work.
Before this, I never had heard anyone's thought but the moment my necklace which masked my werewolf scent was taken off, their thoughts came to me.
I inhaled and let myself focus when suddenly I heard it. "The real question I want so much to ask her is… where has she been all these years? A pure breed werewolf. How has she been hiding?"
I blinked when I heard that thought. Although I knew I was a werewolf, I never knew I was rare. Father rarely spoke about us and claimed hiding who I am would save me from cruel treatment.
Now bound by these chains, I could finally understand his fear.
"And now?" I pressed, wanting to know my fate. "You needed me for what? Because from where I'm sitting, it looks like you threw money at a market to own someone who doesn't want to be owned and now you're just figuring out what to do with it?"
Kael did not answer instead his jaw flexed. "You're tired. You'll be given food," he stated like my earlier concern was nothing.
"I don't want your food." I shot to my feet, yanking on the chains. "I want my freedom."
He stepped forward in one smooth, cold movement. One step. That was all it took to feel his presence like a wall of ice crashing into heat.
"You won't be leaving."
"Wrong," I said. "You can chain me, feed me, parade me like some rare bitch in heat, but if you give me one inch of space—one—I will run."
He stared at me. Then, slowly, deliberately, he reached out and his hand caught the underside of my jaw as he tilted my face up to his.
Not gently or cruelly either, just enough to remind me that he could break me if he wanted to.
And gods help me, I didn't flinch.
"I don't think you understand your situation. You are here. With us. That's not changing."
I met his eyes. "And I don't think you understand me. I don't belong to you. I'm not staying. And if I ever get the chance—"
"If you value your life you wouldn't finish that sentence." His grip slid from my jaw to my throat—not choking me but his hold was firm.
My pulse pounded beneath his palm, but I didn't look away. If he wanted submission, he was staring at the wrong girl.
His eyes flared, and I felt it—the want. His thoughts pressed just beneath the surface. I couldn't read them clearly yet, but they vibrated in the air between us like static before a lightning strike.
"You keep looking at me like you want to tear me apart," I whispered.
Kael's voice dropped, velvet over steel. "No. I look at you like I'm deciding how long I can hold myself back."
For some reason, that made my breath hitch a little. Just enough to excite Ravyn.
He leaned in closer. "You think this is a cage. You have no idea what it looks like when I stop being civilized."
I let out a bitter laugh, but it came out more breath than sound. "Then stop pretending."
His grip on my throat tightened enough to feel it—feel me.
My wolf stirred again. Ravyn was thrilled, amused.
"He wants to bite. Let him try," she purred in my mind.
I glared at him, though I couldn't ignore the pulse pounding between my thighs. "If you think fear is going to make me obedient, you clearly haven't met enough women who bite back."
Kael's eyes darkened. He leaned in so close I could feel the warmth of his breath on my lips.
"I don't need you obedient," he murmured. "I just need you bound."
For a second, we didn't move. The chain rattled as I shifted—because gods, part of me wanted to bite him. Right there. Sink teeth into the smug control stitched into every inch of him.
But Kael stepped back slowly, like he'd just ripped himself away from something dangerous.
"Your food will be sent," he stated flatly.
"I won't eat it," I stated flatly.
Kael half turned as his eyes raked over me once more—lingering on the chains, the rise of my chest.
"You will," he said simply. "Eventually."
And then he turned his back to me and left.